Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that and I thank the Minister for it. I also welcome the announcement of the additional investment from the Irish Research Council. The postgraduate stipend is increased from €16,000 to €18,500 per annum and funding for postdoctoral researchers also increased. However, the €18,500 is still below the minimum wage. The Irish Research Council does not mean all PhD researchers.

Apprentices get contracts of employment and are members of unions. They are paid a percentage share of a fully qualified tradesperson's wage which increases each year as they gain experience. There is something to learn from that. The PhD researchers have no contract of employment, no collective bargaining rights, no sick leave, no maternity leave or no paternity pay. I ask the Minister to take all those matters into consideration in his review. Low-paid, precarious work has spread rapidly in higher education since Fine Gael came into power in 2011. That is not Sinn Féin's fault.

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